


Everyone Needs a (Baby) Day Off

by buckettbarnes, Teddy1008



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Ageplay, Cuddling & Snuggling, Daddy Bucky, Fluff, Infantilism, Little Peter, M/M, No Smut, Non-Sexual Ageplay, Pet Names, Protective Bucky Barnes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-25
Updated: 2020-07-25
Packaged: 2021-03-05 19:09:18
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,077
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25510354
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/buckettbarnes/pseuds/buckettbarnes, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Teddy1008/pseuds/Teddy1008
Summary: Peter has been feeling a little out of character all day, like he needed to let himself relax in his headspace for some time. He hasn’t for a while, so he figures it’s a good idea to make himself comfortable and feel physically small at the same time—by wearing his boyfriend’s much bigger clothes. He wiggles himself into Bucky’s favourite hoodie, then sits down on the bed for a while as he starts to relax; feeling much better with nothing to do and the scent of Bucky’s favourite hoodie surrounding him.Or, the one where Peter goes into little space for the first time since he and Bucky talked about it, and Bucky takes extra good care of him.
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes/Peter Parker, Peter Parker/Bucky Barnes
Comments: 3
Kudos: 270





	Everyone Needs a (Baby) Day Off

Peter has been feeling a little out of character all day, like he needed to let himself relax in his headspace for some time. He hasn’t for a while, so he figures it’s a good idea to make himself comfortable and feel physically small at the same time—by wearing his boyfriend’s much bigger clothes. He wiggles himself into Bucky’s favourite hoodie, then sits down on the bed for a while as he starts to relax; feeling much better with nothing to do and the scent of Bucky’s favourite hoodie surrounding him.  
Bucky is surprised to find the house extra quiet when he came home. Usually, Peter has the TV switched on and it would be playing an animal documentary—Peter loves those. But the television isn’t on and Peter isn’t sitting at his usual spot on the couch. 

So, Bucky makes his way upstairs. He checks his room and smiles when he sees Peter sitting on his bed, drowning in one of his hoodies. Bucky's clothes are too big for Peter, but that never stops him. "Baby, I'm home!" he says brightly, entering the room. "I was wondering if you want to get takeout for dinner tonight?" He pauses when Peter stares wide-eyed at him. "Doll, what's wrong?"

Peter doesn’t realise how long he’s been laying there until the bedroom door opens; he could only stare at the other man, a little nervous to admit what’s going on in his head. “Hi... Hiya.” The smaller boy says after a moment, rubbing his rosy cheeks with the sleeves of his hoodie. “Bucky’s home!” Peter squeaks out, unable to stop himself from smiling.

Bucky smiles at that. Peter is so darn cute. "Yeah, I'm home, honeybun." He approaches and sits down next to Peter. Giving him a kiss on the cheek, he asks, "So, about that takeout... are you up for it?" He waggles his eyebrows teasingly. "I know you couldn't stop talking about how good that pizza place was last time." He stares quizzically at Peter. "Are you okay, baby?"

Peter moves aside for Bucky to sit with him, leaning into the kiss and reaching out to take his hand with both of his own. “Um... Yep! Pizza.” He nods and then looks at Bucky again, meeting his eyes. “I’m good, da— Bucky.” He goes pink again and tries to hide his cheeks with the hood of the sweater. “Can we get juice, p’ease? Apple?”

Peter is feeling shy, especially for his first time being in littlespace around Bucky. He doesn’t want to just come out and say it, of course, but he doesn’t feel like acting big to hide it. Not feeling rational, he decides the best way is to keep quiet; hoping Bucky will pick up on it by himself. 

Bucky narrows his eyes; he hasn’t missed the way Peter is stumbling over his words, or the way his cheeks are going red. But he doesn’t want to push Peter; he knows that he’ll tell him if he wants to. "Yeah, honey, we can get juice. Let me order now." He pulls out his phone, relieved that mobile orders were a thing, while keeping an eye on Peter at the same time. He’s acting odd, all shy and squeaky, and Bucky is going to get to the bottom of it. Offering his hand, he says, "Wanna go downstairs and start getting ready for dinner? It'll take about fifteen minutes. We could wash our hands and stuff before it arrives."

While Bucky is ordering, Peter stares over his boyfriend's shoulder, poking at his phone to add dessert to their dinner for tonight. Once they’re done he stands up and nods. “Mhm! Wash hands, gotta clean.” He takes Bucky’s hand and practically drags him out of the room. “Oh! Gimme a second, gotta—” He stops speaking entirely in favour of padding into his own room. 

Peter returns less than a minute later; holding a stuffed bear Bucky once won him on a date. “All done, wash hands.” He repeats, heading for the stairs.

Bucky grins when he sees the stuffed animal in Peter’s hands. Then, he falters a bit when he sees how small Peter was looking. Could this be...? Bucky shakes his head. Peter will tell him if he wants to, he reminds himself once again. For now, he would just keep going with the flow. 

Peter is staring down the stairs. 

“Wanna hold my hand?” Bucky offers cautiously.

The little watches the stairs for a moment, psyching himself up to go down them— usually he’d slide down on his butt to avoid falling. He looks at Bucky and nods, relieved that he offered. “Yes please, don’t wanna fall.” He reaches out and grabs the older man's hand, giving it a gentle squeeze. “Let’s go!” He giggles and begins to walk down, taking it one step at a time just in case he slips. If Bucky wasn’t around he totally would’ve done it sitting; it’s way more fun that way. 

Bucky overlooks Peter’s actions with amusement, keeping a close eye on him in case he accidentally fell. He couldn’t help but heave a sigh of relief when they reached the bottom of the stairs. “Go wash your hands, baby,” he says, ushering Peter to the washroom. “Make sure your stuffie doesn’t get wet. Da— I’ll join you in a moment.” He hopes Peter hadn’t caught his near slip-up; he isn’t sure how he’d react. Peter seems very shy at the moment. Suddenly, he wonders if Peter would ask for help in washing his hands too— that would definitely be an indicator as to how he is feeling.

Once they reach the bottom Peter is happy to let go of Bucky's hand, running towards the washroom. He sets the stuffie down on the closed toilet and then glances back at Bucky, expecting him to come inside too. “Um...” He bites his lip briefly. “Bucky? Wanna do— wash together, please?” The boy questions. At least that way he can copy the other man's actions.

Bucky smiles. “Yeah, honey, we can do it together,” he agrees. Peter looks very timid, standing there with the most adorable puppy eyes. There’s no way Bucky can say no to that. So they wash their hands together, Bucky gently guiding Peter’s hands to the soap bottle. “Gotta make sure we’re squeaky clean before we eat,” he tells him, even going as far as to gently tickle his hands with his own. 

Peter's smile brightens and he begins to wash his hands with Bucky's help, giving a soft giggle at the tickling. “You’re so silly!” he exclaims; making sure his hands really are clean before they leave the bathroom.  
When they’re finished, the smaller boy picks his stuffie back up and Bucky leads him to the dining table, where Peter sits. “You don’t wanna watch some TV until the food gets here?” Bucky asks, though he notices how content Peter looks.

“Um... No thank you,” Peter says, swinging his legs under the table as he places his bear in his lap. It would be a total giveaway if Peter asked him to put cartoons on, anyway. He loves to watch Winnie the Pooh.

Bucky shrugs. “Okay. You tell me if you change your mind.” He gets his phone out to check how much longer the pizza will take while keeping an eye on Peter at the same time. With every passing second, it becomes more and more clear that this is exactly what he’d suspected—Peter is feeling little. Bucky refuses to acknowledge it first though; they would go at Peter’s pace and if that means pretending that nothing out of the blue is happening, that’s exactly what they’ll do. Thankfully, the pizza arrives sooner than expected and Bucky leaves to fetch it.

Peter sits there waiting the entire time, stuffed animal pressed into his chest. He hums a soft tune to keep himself occupied, tapping his fingers on the table. He really wants to colour, but feels too shy to ask Bucky. He’s missed him all day, and just wants cuddles and pizza before he settles in for bed. 

Once the pizza has arrived Peter watches Bucky get out plates and- oh dear, a glass cup. There’s no way he can handle drinking out of that right now... “Hey- um, Buck..? Could I please have my special cup? With... with the lid.”

Bucky doesn’t flinch. Nodding, he says, “Of course, baby. Do you want anything else, hm?” He goes to fetch Peter’s sippy cup, smiling to himself. He has to admit, Peter is even more adorable when he’s feeling little. 

The boy smiles when Bucky doesn’t dismiss him, truly thinking he’s getting away with hiding his headspace.

Bucky returns and moves to set it down in front of Peter, and then stops. Right, juice. Peter isn’t going to be drinking oxygen. He’s glad when Peter has a pleased look on his face, and he prompts once again, “Anything else before we start eating, honeybun?”

He gives his stuffie a squeeze as Bucky sets his cup down and hums quietly. “Kiss!” He says very seriously, making grabby hands for Bucky to lean down to him.

“Kiss,” Bucky agrees with a chuckle and obeys. Then, he puts a slice of pizza on Peter’s plate and says, “Eat up, honey.” He eyes the slice of pizza, seeing the mushrooms and onions and green peppers on it, waiting to see how Peter will react. It’s not a secret that Peter favours regular cheese pizza over any other type. He doesn’t say anything more though, just busies himself by getting a slice for his own plate.

He gives him his kiss, then turns his attention to his pizza. A frown forms on his face immediately, and he eyes it nervously. “Pizza...” he mumbles before quietly picking the vegetables off of it, grimacing slightly, “not my favourite kind.” He pouts. 

Bucky tuts at that, deciding to push a bit. "No, baby, you need to eat your veggies too. They're good for you, yeah?" Bucky gently tugs Peter's hand off of his pizza and places the vegetables back on it, taking note of the slight pout on Peter's face. "Don't you want to be all big and strong and healthy?”

Peter looks at him and shakes his head gently. “N-No... No, I don’t want to, please...” he says in a soft voice, trying not to get upset, “I don’t want them, Buck... Just cheese.” He looks at his pizza, frowning again.

Bucky hesitates. He doesn’t want to push Peter, but he also doesn’t want to let him run rampage. “Okay, sweetheart. How about we make a deal? You have 3 pieces of veggie with each slice of pizza you have. If you do that without complaining, we can have ice cream for dessert.” Personally, Bucky thinks it’s a very good deal. Trying to convince Peter, he takes a big bite of his own slice, making sure to munch on the veggies as well. “See, baby? Yummy!”

Peter looks at him again and shakes his head gently. “I don’t want them, Daddy, I just want cheese!” he says, then realises what he let slip, and he goes bright red. “No...” he whispers and moves to grab his stuffie, hiding behind it. He really didn’t mean to! He just feels so passionately about not eating the veggies on his pizza, he forgot to think about his words before they came out of his mouth. 

Bucky freezes for a moment. Then, he quickly moves back into action. “Hey, sweetheart, doll, it’s okay.” He gets up and moves to hug Peter. “You know I can be your Daddy whenever you need me to.” He sees Peter go even redder—he hadn’t even known that was a possibility—but he pushes on. “C’mon, honey. The pizza’s really yummy. I don’t want to have to tell you again.” He hopes that’s enough to calm Peter down from both his embarrassment and stubbornness.

Peter peeks out from behind the stuffed animal when Bucky wraps him up in a hug, making sure he doesn’t look angry at all. He can’t help going impossibly red, feeling very embarrassed about his slip-up. “Um... Can I jus’ do peppers?” he asks, trying to compromise. Mushrooms are way too yucky for him right now. “And cake for dessert?”

Bucky lets out a hum. "Green peppers and the onions, baby," he says firmly, leaving no room for argument. "Then we can have cake for dessert. Deal?" He holds out a fist for Peter to fist bump to seal the deal.

He glances back at the pizza, deciding mushrooms are way better than onions. “Um... Pepper and mushroom?” he suggests, then fist bumps Bucky anyway so that he can’t change his mind. “Cool, you gotta take all the onion off! I don’t wanna do it. Icky!”

Bucky stifles a snort of laughter at that and takes the onions off. “Here, baby, how’s the pizza lookin’ now, hm?” 

Peter hums. “Not lookin’ the best but ‘s okay,” he says, then opens his mouth for the slice.

The older man holds it up to Peter’s mouth, wanting to hand feed him but also see his reaction to being coddled. “Good boy,” he cooes when Peter obediently takes a bite, blushing.

Peter goes all red at a Bucky’s coddling, chewing carefully. It’s totally not his favourite pizza, but it’s okay. “Daddy, you take bite!” He exclaims, wanting to make sure Bucky really is enjoying it, and he’s not making Peter eat veggies just for fun.

Bucky laughs at that, unable to help but smile fondly at his baby boy. Peter is just too adorable. “Okay, baby,” he agrees, even though he has his own slice right there in front of him. He takes a bite, then offers it back to Peter. “Now you, baby. It’s all yours; don’t want you going hungry at night.”

Peter claps his hands when Bucky takes a bite, smiling brightly. He reaches for it and quietly begins to eat by himself, somehow managing to get sauce on his face and hands, and peppers on the table. But it’s no big deal to Bucky anyway, because he cleans everything up right away.

The cake is both his and Peter’s favourite and Peter clearly enjoys it as well judging by the cake smeared on his cheeks. 

“You done eating, honey?” Bucky asks, and when Peter nods in response, he says, “Okay, great.” He glances at the clock. “I know it’s a bit earlier than usual, but what do you say to having bath time now, hm?”

Peter enjoys the rest of dinner, even if he does get cake over the hoodie he stole from Bucky. He reaches for him when he’s finished, hoping Daddy will pick him up. “Bath time? Bubble?” He asks, not objecting to it. “Can I play with toys, Daddy?”

"Yeah, you can," Bucky agrees. "C'mon, lemme carry you." He easily hoists Peter up onto his hip, holding him securely while going upstairs. "What kind of toys do you want, sweetheart? Boats, fishies, and duckies?" He suggests, trying to remember all the bath toys they had.

Peter wraps his arms around Bucky, letting his head rest on the other man's shoulder as they head upstairs. “Boats, please,” he says, feeling calmer now Bucky’s treating him exactly how he wants to be when he’s small. “They get lost in bubbles. He murmurs to him, rubbing at his eyes with the back of his hand.

“They get lost in bubbles, huh.” Bucky chuckled at that. They entered the washroom and Bucky reluctantly set Peter down on the closed lid of the toilet. “Okay, honeybun, lemme just get the tub all filled up for you. You wanna wear your comfy jammies to bed tonight?” He and Peter usually both slept in just their boxers, but he figured that if Peter was feeling small, he’d prefer pyjamas—maybe even the onesie they had. “Or do you wanna wear some of Daddy’s clothes?”

Peter blushes when his feet touch the floor, pulling them up so he doesn’t have to feel the cold tile. “Ummm..” He pauses to think, a small frown on his face. “Can I have my onesie? The bear one, you know it.” He plays with the hem of his pants, feeling shy for asking. It was rare he asked for his onesie, but he found it so very comforting to wear.

Bucky smiled. “Sure thing, buddy.” He added the bubbles into the bath and watched with Peter as they foamed and rose. “C’mon, clothes off and into the tub! Time for you to get squeaky clean.” Bucky helped a blushing Peter out of his clothes.

The boy lifts his arms for Bucky to take off his shirt, smiling up at him. “And can I have story?” He reaches down to take off his socks, putting them in the laundry basket. Once he’s undressed he’s blushing properly, trying to keep himself warm. “I get in, p’ease?” He nudges him.

Bucky helps Peter into the tub, holding his hand and letting him settle into the warm water. “Yeah, you can have a story as long as you’re a good boy and listen to Daddy when I say bath time is over,” Bucky replies sternly, but there’s a fond smile on his face that’s definitely not going away any time soon. “What kind of story are you thinking, hm?” He pops in Peter’s bath toys too, watching as the boy squeals and tackles them with his hands. He decides to let Peter play a bit before actually getting him all squeaky clean.

Once he’s in the bath Peter warms up, the heat of the water flushing his skin a healthy shade of pink. He listens to daddy before shrieking, grabbing his boat out of the water and quickly diving it back into the bubbles— he completely forgets to answer the question, too focused on his extremely cool submarine. He spends a while splashing with his boats in the water, mumbling to himself as he plays and making the noises of the horn. At one point he splashes a little too much, and water slides over the side of the bath onto Bucky's clothes and the mat on the floor. He looks up at Daddy and goes all pink. “Sorry...” He mumbles.

Bucky grimaces at the mess, but feels rather thankful that most of it got on his clothes instead of the floor—it would certainly be easier to clean up. “That’s alright, honey,” he says, reaching out and gently brushing Peter’s wet hair off of his forehead. “But I think it’s time to get out of the bath now—or else most of it will end up on the floor!” he added teasingly.

“Do I gotta get out?” Peter pouts a bit. “I’m playing, Daddy...” He looks at his boat, hair flopping onto his face again. “Promise I won't splash! Then I play more, right?” He holds his fist up for Bucky to bump it, assuming that’s how they make deals now.

Bucky wants to fist bump Peter back, but he hesitates. He had told Peter that he had to listen to him, but Peter is looking up at him with those adorable puppy eyes... no, Peter would have to learn. He shakes his head firmly. “No, baby, you gotta get out now. We need enough time to clean up so that we can read a story before it’s bedtime. Remember, Daddy said you have to be a good boy for that, remember?” He gently takes Peter’s fist and brings it back down to the water.

He frowns, but reluctantly nods. “Okay, Daddy.” He says, sounding a little sad. “Hoodie towel?” the boy suggests, setting his fist down. “And I can play before bed, not bath?” He stands up with Bucky's prompting, not wanting to be naughty. Peter lets the older man wrap him up in his special towel, the hood pulled up over his head. Bucky gives him a quick kiss on the cheek as praise for behaving. “Hoodie towel,” he agrees, already getting it out. It’s a cute frog hoodie towel, easily one of Peter’s favourites when he’s feeling this way. As Bucky dries him off, he hums. “Maybe a little bit, because you were such a good boy during dinner and bath time. But no TV, okay, baby?”

Peter stands still while he’s dried, humming in response. He likes it when Bucky dries him, he’s so gentle, making sure he pats instead of rubs. “Uh-huh, ‘cause ‘m good, dada.” He reaches for him once he’s all dry, towel still over his head to dry his hair a bit more. “Jammies! I’m gonna be a bear.” He giggles and rests his head on Bucky's shoulder.

Bucky smiles. “Yeah, you can be my baby bear,” he agrees. He carries Peter to their room and sets him down on the bed. Then, helping him into the onesie, he asks, “Do you wanna play a little bit now before the story? Or story and then bed?” He secretly hopes that Peter chooses the latter; he’s feeling rather protective over his baby and wants to make sure he gets a good night’s sleep.

By the time Bucky has helped him into his onesie and he’s zipped up, he’s feeling much warmer. Peter isn’t really interested in playing anymore; slipping into his headspace further with his best jammies on. He shakes his head a little. “Story then bed, Daddy,” he murmurs, rubbing his face with the sleeves. “Can i haf’ a milk bottle?” the boy asks, hoping Bucky will feed it to him before he goes to sleep.

Bucky smiles. Peter is such a good boy. “Of course, lovely. You must be a mind reader; Daddy was just about to suggest the same thing. Do you wanna come down with me or start picking out a story and gettin’ all comfy?”

He clearly stops to think about it for a moment, before holding his arms out to Bucky. “Wi’f Daddy,” he says, letting the other man lift him onto his hip. He wraps his arms around him, a shy smile on his face. “I’m bear.” He giggles and tucks his head into the crook of Bucky's neck.

Laughing, Bucky nods and presses a kiss to his forehead. “Yeah, my baby bear. Was today a good day, hm?” He heads down to the kitchen and begins to fix up Peter’s bottle, warming up the milk so that it’s even more relaxing for him. Peter is absolutely adorable right now and he can’t stop smiling.

“A good day...” he says, letting himself cuddle into Bucky and hold onto him as he makes his bottle. Once it’s all done, he takes it from his hands, being careful not to spill. “Story now, Da? Wan’ the one wi’f um... The three bears?” he suggests, legs swinging a little as they go back upstairs. He’s feeling much sleepier after his play time and all the food.

"Okay, sweetheart. Very good choice." Bucky kisses the top of his head. "Such a smart little boy." He enters the room once again and sets Peter down on the bed with his bottle. It doesn't take long to fish out the story. He makes sure to get Peter all comfortable in bed, tucked in nice and warm.

The boy smiles at the kiss and lays down when Bucky sets him on the bed, getting comfy with his bottle and his stuffed animal. He looks up at Bucky, shuffling over. “Sit here, Daddy.” He says, letting him sit down. Once he’s comfy and sipping from his bottle, he leans his head on Bucky to listen to his story.

When he sits down on the bed and begins to read, Peter lets out a content hum. "Here's the story of the three little bears..."

Bucky isn’t even halfway through before Peter is asleep, snoring softly in his arms.

Bucky stops and looks down at his baby boy, grinning. So he had been tired! He gently sets down the book on the nightstand and slowly, quietly moves off of the bed, not wanting to disturb the sleeping boy. He would join him in bed later; it was still a bit too early for him. He turns off the lights, stiffening when Peter stirs a bit, but sighs in relief when nothing else happens. "I love you, baby boy," he whispers, and leaves the room with the biggest smile on his face.

**Author's Note:**

> a little!peter x daddy!bucky story by [@buckettbarnes](https://buckettbarnes.tumblr.com) and [@estelsberry](https://estelsberry.tumblr.com/)! check out our tumblrs :)


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